I am extremely pissed off today.
Let me explain what happened. Here is how the theft of the value of my scratch ticket went down:
Earlier today, after traveling to visit an office to sign some forms, I went to a convenience store in Andover, MA and bought one (1) scratch ticket in the value of $10. That ticket was a 100X ticket that was a winner in the value of $10. After buying the ticket, I left the store without redeeming the ticket. I then drove down the state highway (Rt. 114) to the A1 Prime gas station in Middleton to buy gas. My experience was odd there since the female convenience clerk left her station by the cash register and went outside. About a minute later she came back in claiming that I had dropped a $5 dollar bill on the pavement and handed $5 dollar bill to me. I handed the $5 dollar bill back to her to pay for $5 dollars worth of gas. I was puzzled since I did not recall dropping a $5 bill on the pavement. I pumped my gas then left. I then drove further down the highway until I reached the library in Middleton where I spent about an hour or 2 surfing the internet. When I was finished I went into the Richdale convenience store / gas station that was just the 2nd building over from the library. I went in to redeem my ticket. The clerk there scanned the ticket at the machine and the message came up: "Previously cashed." I was in disbelief and very upset. I immediately drove to the next convenience store further down the highway. The same message came up: "Previously cashed"
Here's what I think happened in the time between when I bought the ticket and when I tried to cash it:
All that time my scratch ticket was on top of the dashboard of my car in plain view with the back side facing up. The backside has a serial number, a bar code underneath the serial number and a Quick Response code (QR) code. My car was locked with all windows up at both the gas station and the library since I ALWAYS have the car locked whenever I am not in it.
Evidently, someone with a cell phone equipped with a camera photographed my ticket and somehow managed to redeem my ticket. This happened either at the gas station or in the library parking lot while I was inside.
Like I said, I am extremely pissed off. I am out $10 bucks.
I will be contacting both the Massachusetts Lottery Commission and the local media by email very soon.
I still have the ticket.
In the meantime, there is a moral to this story that I have just learned the hard way:
Do not leave your tickets, any kind of ticket, out in plain view at any time for any reason.
If you have a ticket and cannot redeem it right away for any reason, for the love of God, please hide your ticket in a folder, under the car seat, in the glove compartment, etc, etc.
There is a special place in hell for such a sneaky thief.
Ok, I am done venting here.
Comments away folks.